Cheney to visit fort

Vice President Dick Cheney will make an appearance Friday at a rally for troops at Fort Leavenworth.

The fort's Public Affairs Office made the announcement Wednesday afternoon to media after receiving confirmation of Cheney's visit from the White House.

DoD photo by Cpl. Andrew D. Pendracki, U.S. Marine Corps.

Vice President Dick Cheney shakes hands as he greets service members after speaking to U.S. Marines, sailors, and soldiers in a hangar on Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, on Dec. 18, 2005. Cheney will make a trip to Fort Leavenworth to meet with troops on Friday.

Cheney will arrive for a brief, early-afternoon rally after attending a ceremony earlier Friday at the Harley-Davidson factory in Kansas City, Mo. At the fort, Cheney is expected to award Combat Action Badges to a handful of soldiers who served in Iraq, assist in the re-enlistment of several soldiers and then deliver remarks.

"The vice president always enjoys meeting with the troops, and the troops at Fort Leavenworth have done an amazing amount of work both in Iraq and Afghanistan," a spokesperson in Cheney's office said when asked what sparked his visit to Fort Leavenworth.

The fort's commander, Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, was commander of the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq before assuming his current position.

Janet Wray, public information officer for the fort, said Cheney's visit would not be open to the public, but instead was for members of the Fort Leavenworth community.